nervous about the new year

Well I am nervous about the new year, dont know what direction it will all hold so I am nervous.  This blog is a great way to vent for me.  Maybe it seems too depressing to read, then dont read it.  It is a great place for me to vent and then remain sane in real life.  I know life must change but I am starting to understand how older people hate change.  I wonder why we get that way.  To me I cant really explain why I might dread change.  It is an odd thing.  However nothing is quarteened so I am hoping that it will work out however God sees fit.  We have a funeral today we are going to and then to Iowa, church, Christmas with Dave's mom, then church and then the next day Mom's surgery.  Well better finish the dishes soon and pack.

here comes the whiplash

Life whiplash is what I plan to call it!  I will be interviewing for the ILM job at MERIL on Jan 9th at 11 something.  My biggest issue is getting new references, all the references I would usually use are sitting on the board of interviewers.  So I am hunting down other people info to hand in the references.  Then the Sorenson job will also be coming up.  I finished up the online stuff which was the last thing, now I wait and do some training and then I should be able to bid some jobs.  So what will my life look like, well alot different then it does now.  Very busy and not as flexible.  So how will MDK finish up her school year.  We will be having her take some courses on the college campus.  This will be nice for the dual credit and also the college experience while still at home.  This was very helpful with MLK.  This weekend will be busy with Christmas celebrations and a family friend funeral.  Plan to finish my photography class this weekend.  So life will be alot different and the family says we are behind you and go for it Mom and then if things change about three weeks in they will sing a different tune.  So we will see how life plays out.  Hoping also to get back up to Mom's to help out with her surgery.

grieving with a friend

A good family just lost their mother/grandmother last night, we ran in to see them at the hospital.  It is so hard to see people lose family, esp. a dear old lady.  However we must remember that we are really feeling sorry for ourselves, and that she is in a wonderful place now.  Still is hard cause it is so final. 

I have found a way to get out of the lazies when I dont feel like cleaning my house, I watch an episode of hoarders and then I rip through one of my piles till it looks spic and span.  It is amazing what people do with their things.  I am so not a pack rat so it really amazes me that you would want to try to keep track of that much stuff.  It would make me a little crazy. 

Starting to dream about gardening already, got two more tomatoes starting on my plants.  The big ones in the black containers are doing nothing so may get rid of them.  Dont think these tomatoes will get very big but it has been a fun adventure.  Still waiting to hear on both fronts with both jobs, and patience is not MY virtue.  Well better get the day a going.

keeping busy while I wait and wonder

Well I am keeping busy while I wait and wonder how or if my life will change.  So what am I doing well I wait and wonder, well of course keeping busy.  Yesterday we were all on fire in the kitchen, mostly MLK and I as MDK was getting after the schoolwork and such.  We made zuchinni bread and homemade bread and cookies.  Today I am hoping to make up some egg noodles which will be a first for me, if they go well I plan to freeze some of them for the meals we like to have with egg noodles.  Working on my new photo class and finishing off some crafts.  I need to get busy with Denise's  blanket.  Her glucose test was a little off so now she has to take the super long drink a bunch of junk test.  I had to do that with one of the girls, nothing came of it.  However I was a lot younger.  This coming weekend we will be doing Christmas with Dave's side of the family.  Well better get the family up and at it.

Baking

Today MLK and I are baking and doing home cooking stuff, yesterday we did an inventory of all the stuff we have in the house and in the month of Jan. we are going to avoid shopping as much as possible.  So today we got the rest of the stuff we needed except for a few odds and ends and got some good clearance items.  I got some new sheets for the girls beds and mine for fourteen dollars for a set.  They are really comfy they are made of the microfiber fabric.  So we are making zuchini bread, and regular bread and all sorts of stuff in between.  I might try to make egg noodles also. MLK checked in with both places yet again, and has a doctors appt. tommorow.  I think she plans to do some online apps.  MDK and I are eleminating one subject after another. However she doesnt like the idea of school so shortly after Christmas.  Dave ended up getting two I Pod shuffles from work so MLK is getting the extra.  I am getting MLK old mp3 player.  Got the girls what they needed as far as clothes for the winter and supplies.  Now to button down the hatch and hold on.  Life is bound to take many turns in the next month.  Mostly what will I be doing for job(s), lots of prayers going up for that.  Well better go since this sound like the ravings of a mad woman.

the times they are a changing

Well I had life wipelash yesterday.  I have had a lot of uncertainity with my career portion of my life since the beginning of the summer.  For three years I have had a pretty steady source of income with my interpreting.  However thing dramatically changed this last summer with a three month drought, this really put us in a pickle as far as our finances went.  Before when Dave worked both Redbox and the church we didnt have as much difficulty weathering a short recess of no interpreting, however a three month stint of no interpreting has made us reevaluate and again this happened or has the possiblity of happening to us again.  So Dave and I had a deep discussion about it, I had strongly considered going back to MERIL as an independent specialist next year in 2013, however the job is open now.  However I was not wanting to cheat MDK.  So we had a long discussion about it, we are finishing MDK up in a year from now so she can go to Guatemela at the beggining of 2013 before she graduates.  So between Dave stepping in and flexing his hours and MDK taking some extra dual enrollement on campus at MWSU we should be able to do just that.  Now I do not have the job, I just threw my hat into the ring is all, and still moving forward with Sorenson.  So I may be working full time and doing some weekend interpreting with Sorenson.  So it could get a little nuts.  A major shift if and that is a big if it happens.  So we will see how everything goes. . . it was a quick and fast decsion yesterday, because I had to put my resume in at the last moment or not be considered at all.  So now for the waiting game.  Well here goes nothing, every thing something.

my God shall supply all my needs

Well had a bit of bad news yesterday, the job I had for next semster canceled, so right now I have nothing on my calender and that is so not good.  I have heard back from Sorenson but it has been a slow go of things, it is looking hopeful but not for sure yet.  We depend on my salary a bit to meet all the bills,  just not sure of what to do.  Worrying does me no good, but yet I still do it.  I went to bed upset and got up upset.  I have taxes staring me down in April, (should be less than last year), however I need to be grateful that I have Sorenson in the planning, wondering if I passed my next level, wont know until April.  Just a little bit worried.  I know that God will help us through this, just hoping we can get it all done.  Well better stop worrying and start praying instead.

christmas movies

Well yesterday, Dave and I went to Walmart and picked up some stuff and had a nice talk on the way there and back.  Sometimes you just need that uninterupted time to have those heart to heart.  We then came home and got the house looking good.  We watched Its a Wonderful Life and The Grinch that Stole Christmas (the one with Jim Carey) and drank more orange julius.  I made a really cool and nice looking tree skirt yesterday and also starched the snowflakes I have made so far.  I have a bit more sewing I hope to get done today. 

MDK and I have been trying hard to finish off school work before the break, and MLK is kinda in a waiting pattern right now as far as work search.  Hee car is leaking raditor coolant again, and she was quite upset about it last night.  She gets mad at me in particular I quesss I am an easy one to let out all the frustrations on.  She will proably start the job search up again after Christmas.

Been thinking back over Christmas memories this year and Grandma Hancox Christmas comes to mind.  I remember the "john deere" reindeer on the tree, and if I remember correctly it was always a real tree most years.  I remember watching its a wonderful life for the first time at her house.  I also remember curling up behind the wood stove and listening to The Christmas carol radio show one year.  I remember she made this bread and had this pink syrup stuff that went over it one year and that she always made me creamed peas. Dorothy always got a puzzle every year which she would start on that afternoon.  I remember also the one and only time that Grandpa threatened to spank me was when I was playing behind the Christmas tree by the light cord, I think I had almost toppled the tree twice before he got after me. 

Well better start getting around for church. 

sewing

I spent a good chunk of yesterday sewing, and it was nice and comforting, it is able to produce crafts so much faster when I am sewing then when I am crocheting.  Plan to do some more sewing today after I get around and MDK gets her school work done.  Did some Christmas stockings,  I have also been doing some crocheting snowflakes.  I have so many crafts I am doing right now that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Still waiting for the final okay with Sorenson. 

This stage of life with the girls is hard, you just dont know when to step in and when to back off, and you are always getting it wrong.  They want all your help or none of it, and it is anybody's quess which and when on that subject. 

Doesnt seem like Christmas is just around the corner.  I really like to keep it simple, I dont like the commericialism of the season, it really just turns me off.  I like to do a few simple gifts, put up a tree, make orange julius, hang a few lights, enjoy church services, listen to Christmas music, watch some good Christmas movies.  Remember the main reason for the season.  Enjoying the traditions that is my idea of a good time. 

wow was I tired

I went to bed last night at 9 and slept clear through till 6 this morning.  I havent had such a good night's sleep in a long time.  Yesterday I had an all day job and I have an all day job again today.  So not a whole lot got done around the house.  Working on crocheting some snowflakes. Also working on a blanket top for Denise new baby.  It is going to be a girl, the name so far is Alana Grace.  Our secretary at church got hit by a car, send up some prayers her name is Jan, she is going to have a long road to recovery.  The lady who hit her, didnt have insurance, liscense, nothing.  Well all for now gotta get around. 

a busy and fun Friday

Well yesterday I played taxi, first I went and took MLK to the doctor she was feeling rotten, got the same virus MDK had.  They had her bend over and gave her two huge shots, one steriod and one antibodtic, and sent her home with horse pills.  Just sat in the lobby and read my book, went home did Math with MDK and monitered a few other subjects and off agian, but with Dave and MLK in tow, we dropped MLK off at MWSU so she could register for her classes next semster.  Looks like she will be getting some help from VR for her college classes!!!! Yeah! I think she said she has Math, Sociolgy, 2D Design (art), and PE this semster and she said PE was at 8 in the morning.  However she was able to get them all on MWF so that was good.  Dave and I went to Aldi and wow we were out of everything so that was quite the costly trip.  Picked up MLK and she got into the van and said, I love you MOM!  I said wow what did I do?  She said I just now understand how big of a help you have been getting the FASFA and all that stuff done for me.  Quess all sorts of people were having trouble cause they didnt have their ducks in a row, she just went through the line lickety split.  Cleaned on the house for a little bit then we all got dressed up and went to the Christmas Carol play at MWSU, it was so well done, everyone just loved it, and we had seats on the third row and it was great.   Lady next to us, was recording it with her camera, a huge no no so the lady behind her said maam you cant do that.  So the lady snapped an her and said, why dont you just mind your own business.  So at the interlude one of the people in charge said, I want the tape that you were recording and she said but it is my grandaughter up there.  He said give us the tape or leave which is it.  So she gave up the tape and then she started complaining about the lady behind her.  Duh people you cant do that for plays!  The family really enjoyed the play and then we grabbed ice cream and came home.  It was a great day.

Duggars, homeschooling, and such

I just read in the news that the Duggars had a miscarriage, I feel for them, yes they have alot of kids and such, but it is still a loss.  So many people have such strong feelings on them, either hate them or love them.  I personally enjoy them,  if they want to have nineteen kids, can provide for them and take care of them, more power to them.  I am also okay with people having one kid and that is all.  I just have an issue when a women sets out to have a kid without a man. Having both a mom and a dad is such a gift to a child. I have been doing some online reading about what is called the Quiverfull movement, it is a interesting movement of no birth control, Dad is the ultimate authority on everything, dresses only, no dating, etc  I do believe that in a marriage God gives responsiblity to have the man be the leader, however God never sets up the man to be king.  Leadership always has alot to do about serving others and being responsible.  In our household we talk and 99 percent of the time we agree, if we dont then Dave's decision is final.  You have to have a leader in every circumstance, someone that is the one that has the responsiblity.  As far as no birth control, I think this is not a good idea,  I think there are some forms of birth control that are not good, that cause miscarriages instead of preventing conceptation, those I am opposed to.  If I had continued having kids I would have died, that is more or less what the doctor was warning us after MDK.  Dresses only, big issues with that, dresses are not always modest!  I think a man should look like a man and a woman should look like a woman and we should be decently covered.  I shouldnt look at someone and think TMI!(too much information)  Well the last topic of this soapbox discussion would be homeschooling which I will start a new paragraph for. 

Homeschooling, obviously I believe in this, but it is not for everyone, def. not for everyone.  It was the right choice for us, our local school district was our only choice (no open enrollment like in Iowa), it was known by many school districts as not helping students that would fall outside the normal student.  I am okay with public schools, or maybe I should say public school of days gone by or maybe I should say really small town public schools.  I like elementary school, I do feel that alot of learning goes on in small elementary schools.  I really wish middle school and high school would be reworked they are just not doing the job they need to do anymore, but alas I get off the path.  Homeschooling is what God had in store for us after MDK being in school for four years she could not read, it was so scary and so sad and I couldnt see a bright future for her at all, it made my heartbreak and we had tried to work with her after school and tried every program in school nothing was working.  So we took her to an educational phsychologist and she was the one who recommended homeschooling.  It was the best decision we made for her.  This week she has been caught up in a series that she found at the library spending the evenings curled up in bed with this book.  She ran to the library in her McDonalds uniform before the library closed to get the next book.  I will never regret that decision.  Have we had our troubles yes, will they have to face certain things that homeschooling didnt prepare them for yes.  However all kids will have to face certain things that they werent prepared for, public school kids have there own things that arent prepared for, it is just different things. 

Today I take MLK to the doctor (again), and then to sign up for classes, hopefully her car will be done this weekend, (tired of being the taxi).  Keep praying she gets the job! 

i am a taxi once again

Well last night was a short one, as we had a loooooong discussion with MDK, we caught her in a big whooper of a lie, she finally confessed that yes indeeed she had lied to us, so she is officially grounded, no wheels, no computer, and no phone until Dad decides different.  It was so not good, and now she has a long hill to climb to gain our trust back.  So I will be a taxi again. My one long job finishes today.  I do however have a big whopping day of terping today. 

MLK had a job interview at South Walmart today and hopefully they will hire her!  I am so praying to that end.  Her car should be done today or tommorow so that will be one less person to drive around!  Well best get ready for my marathon, start now, finish at 9 pm tonight.

December musing

Christmas is coming...  I changed up Christmas about five years ago and have enjoyed it so much more!!  About five years ago I stopped having Christmas madness, you know that stressful, I dont have a gift for this person, and I have ten billion function to go to. I cut back on the gift giving alot, I bought just a few gifts and then made gifts.  Personally I like to do alot of crafts and give away gifts throughout the year, just not all at Christmas.  I have made afgans, scarfs, quilts, etc.  Then I spend around fifty dollars for the girls.  We as a family go to a movie together, but this year we are going to a play!! We put up the tree together with orange julius to drink and we attend a few Christmas parties.  We enjoy the church activities and try to give to a need or family we know that has needs.  This has made for a much more enjoyable time.  We dont worry how can we pay for it all, we dont feel rushed like crazy, it makes for such a nicer time.  I am still debating on writing a Christmas letter.

Work is slowing down some with Christmas around the corner.  However I should be getting a call from Sorenson soon.  I am exicitied it looks like it will happen!  MDK is finally feeling better she lost some weight and was pretty pale, but she seems to be back to normal now.  She read a whole book from the library in one sitting last night.  Who would have ever thought.  MLK car is in the garage still, got the part ordered.  MDK car is giving her trouble so Uncle Kevin Harris will be busy.  MLK has a good possible lead with a job in Stewartsville, she will know next Monday.  She is doing follow up today at Casey in King City and then in St. Joe.  I will be glad when her car is back, I dont enjoy being taxi.  If MLK doesnt get a job soon, she is going to start applying at fast food.  I am in hopes that the gas station job works out, as I think that is a better fit for her.  MLK has a meeting tommorow that may help with money for college and then she has to register for classes on Friday.  She and I sat down and looked at the classes she wanted to do.  She got her final grades at Indian Hills, she did alright for having mono and some crazy stuff happening to her, she did not do very well on her online class and has decided that online classes are not a good fit for her.  Well I had better go!

chasing rabbits

Today I have chased a million rabbits and it seems like I havent killed one yet.  I have been helping MLK since her car is down for the week.  She had to borrow two hundred from her sis to get her car up and running.  There are two convience stores that are looking hopeful, she will get to register for classes on Dec 9 and be all set up with everything.  I am going over everything that MDK needs to graduate and we are going to try to get it done by this time next December.  Today she had a Christmas party for her work.  She is feeling alot better but still looks washed out and puny.  I ordered a part for MLK car and have just a multiude of little tiny time consuming task today.

I started crocheting snowflakes last night, and they look pretty good however I will need to pin them and startch them.  They are coming together quicker than I thought they might.  I have one more class and then I am done interpreting till next semster at my one job.  I am working on a photo class assignments and worksheets for the new class I will be teaching next semster.  I am very exicitied about it. 

We are going to do our normal tradition we do for Christmas and we are going to not a movie but a play  Missouri western is putting on the Christmas carol on stage and we are going this Friday.  I am very exicitied to be able to go, it is a fun thing we do every year since the girls got older.  Before long they will move away and we will start a new tradition but for now enjoying. 

Must clean my house so not in the mood to do it yet again.  Oh well!

the last day of vacation

Well back to the normal routine, starting tommorow.  I actually dont have a job tommorow but have a long list of errands and MLK car is out of commision so I will proably be haulin her around for apps and such.  She is borrowing one hundred off her sister to fix some pipe thing that goes to her raditor.  She said how humiliting, and really stepped up her game more in the last few days.  Dave departed a whole lot of wisdom to her, it seems when he talks she gets it and when I talk she does the exact opposite so it is a tad frustrating. 

I have been working on crafts and such, I think I officially have one too many pots on the fire.  So I like am doing Christmas crafts, getting ready for my new photography class and doing baby crafts for Denise.  Our tomatoes are doing okay, only have one tomatoe but a whole lot of blooms, will be interested to see if we have more fruit. 

Well I had better finish getting some stuff around and then get me around for church.

good news

Well my test is done, and behind me. Yeah!  Called Sorenson, this coming Tuesday I should get a call telling me how things are going, but it is pretty much a locked in thing, I will start training and can bid for jobs soon, plan to do two weekends a month possibly.  So that is exciting news.  So I will know for sure next week.  It is looking way way up, very exicitied about it.

I need to get started on my photo class soon, now that the big test is behind me I feel like I can get moving on to bigger and brighter things.